How to Share Buckets and Folders

How to Share Folders on Amazon S3

With CS Browser, you can share folders inside an Amazon S3 bucket with ease. Below, we show how to grant access to a folder inside a bucket and how another user can connect to that folder.

The Bucket Sharing Wizard creates an IAM user, creates an Access Key ID and Secret Access Key, and applies an inline IAM policy limited to the selected bucket or folder and the permissions you choose.

The current CS Browser account must have permission to create IAM users, access keys and inline policies. It must also have permission to create an Amazon S3 bucket if you enter a bucket that does not already exist.

To Share a Folder on Amazon S3

1. Click Buckets > Bucket Sharing Wizard..

   

   The Bucket Sharing Wizard dialog will open:

   

2. Choose the bucket you want to share. You can also specify the folder after the slash, for example, bucket-name/folder-name/.

   You can also click the folder icon to open the Browse for Folder dialog. It allows you to select a bucket and folder or create a new folder if necessary.

   

3. Enter a name for the new user and choose which actions the user can perform on files inside the bucket or folder.

4. Click Create new user and apply permissions. CS Browser will create a new IAM user and apply the necessary permissions.

   The following page appears after the new user is created:

   

   These credentials are required to access the shared bucket or folder. Copy them before closing the page.

   Save the Secret Access Key now. AWS does not display it again after you close this page. However, you can create new access keys if necessary.

5. Click Copy Access Key ID and Secret Access Key to copy the access keys and bucket name to the clipboard.

   Send these details to the user. The next section describes how the user can connect to the shared bucket or folder. Send access keys only through a secure channel.

How to Connect to a Shared Amazon S3 Bucket or Folder

With CS Browser Freeware, you can connect to buckets and folders shared by other Amazon S3 users.

You need the following details to use a shared Amazon S3 bucket:

• Access Key ID
• Secret Access Key
• Bucket name and optional folder path

The person sharing the bucket or folder must provide the Access Key ID, Secret Access Key and bucket or folder name. The previous section explains how to create the IAM user and generate these credentials.

1. Download and install CS Browser, then enter the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key .

2. Click Buckets > Add External Bucket.

   

   The Add External Bucket dialog will open:

   

3. Enter the bucket name and optional folder path, then click Add External Bucket. The shared bucket or folder will appear in the bucket list.

   You can now upload, download, copy and move files according to the permissions granted by the bucket owner.